SSBB: The Newcomer's Whodunit
by Calamity Heart
Summary: It's been a while since the Smash mansion has gotten some new Brawlers. Today, they're surprised by 11 new competitors. But when odd things begin to happen after some particular newcomers arrive, everyone's wondering: whodunit, and more importantly, why?
1. The Newcomers

"Keep it up, Meta Knight, keep it up. You've only got 15 Alloys left!" yelled a young, two-tailed fox sitting at a computer screen, surrounded by several others.

"He'll never make it, Tails. Nobody can beat my record." Link said, crossing his arms.

"I don't know, Link. It's a pretty close game. And Meta only has two Alloys left!"

On Tail's computer screen, a small blue ball with hands, feet, a sword and a mask rushing around the screen, swinging his blade and sending his opponents, odd machine-like creatures, flying off of the stage. Meta Knight looked up and saw that the meter above counted 98.

He looked on either side of him and saw a Green Alloy charging on one side, and a light version of himself charging on the other. As they approached, Meta Knight suddenly, disappeared, causing the two assaulters to slam into each other.

As they lay disoriented, Meta Knight reappeared, swinging his sword and sending the two enemies flying up into the air, exploding. He counted to three in the air, then heard Master Hand's voice call, "New Record!"

"Dammit!" Link pouted, stamping on the ground. He stared at a glowing blue floor panel on the floor until Meta Knight materialized within it and stepped out.

"Pay up." Meta Knight told Link as he extended his gloved hand.

"Oh, come on! Look! You only beat me by two milliseconds." Link said, looking at his time.

"I still beat you. Pay up."

Link sighed and took a pouch out of his pocket, putting it in Meta Knight's hand.

"What are YOU going to do with 2000 rupees, anyway. The common currency here is Smash coins, in case you forgot."

"I know. But that's just 2000 less rupees that YOU have." Meta Knight made a slight chuckling noise. "You should see your face right now."

"What the he- Did you see that? He just stole MY money from me!"

"By the way, your world's currency system is stupid. A green rupee in Hyrule is worth one dollar there, but a green rupee in other lands is known as an emerald, which is worth WAY more." Meta Knight said as he walked out of the door back into the main Smash Mansion, leaving Link seething.

"You know, Link, you didn't have to accept his bet." Zelda said, crossing her arms.

Completely ignoring her, he stared after Meta Knight, saying, "I'm getting my money back. Hey! Meta Knight! I challenge you to a Brawl!"

"Oh, jeez." Toon Link murmured, embarrassed at his alternate older self.

"Alright guys, clear it out. We're welcoming some new Brawlers today." Tails said, turning his computer off and shutting down the Alloy simulator.

"Really? Who?" Zelda asked.

"Don't know exactly. Boy, I remember when I first came here after the Brawl event, so I feel for these guys."

Tails followed the other Brawlers out of the room, turning off the light on his way out.

xxx

Balancing on the top of the fountain in the courtyard of the mansion was Lucario, meditating in relative peace. He had been in this position for quite a while, until-

"Hya! I've got you this time!"

"Nuh uh! You missed me again!"

Lucario didn't even have to open his eyes. He felt and heard the Ice Climbers' familiar aura. Using his aura sight, he noticed that Popo and Nana was jumping around the courtyard, clashing hammers. After one unlucky swing on Popo's part, his hammer flew out of his hand, straight toward Lucario.

"Oh no! Lucario! Heads-" Popo called, but stopped when Lucario simply lifted his hand and caught the hammer, without opening his eyes.

"Up?" he asked telepathically, throwing the hammer back down to Popo. It was then that he noticed several unfamiliar auras walking through the front gates. Immediately going into action, Lucario leaped high into the air and landed in front of the group of strangers, who froze solid. A few gasped.

Lucario studied the group carefully. In one corner was a short, pink hedgehog girl with a hammer strapped to her back, a blonde girl at about the same height who looked like Zelda, and another short blonde girl holding an ice cream cone and wearing a crown.

In the other corner was a dark-skinned girl with brown hair and tribal markings under her eyes and on her arms and midriff. In one hand was a strange wooden flute that had tribal markings as well. Behind her was a small Koopa child wearing a scarf that had fangs drawn on it and a blue fox wearing a skin-tight black-and-blue suit.

Bringing up the rear was an odd girl with even odder earrings, wearing a beach T-shirt and a towel around her waist and a very short man dressed like Olimar only his theme was more blue than red.

And heading the group were two tall girls, one wearing a modest green dress and a silver crown, surrounded by small living stars. The other was a blonde girl wearing a ash-grey belly shirt and a similar thigh skirt. She wore an extravagant ring, but obviously, the most noticeable feature on this woman were her eyes, which seemed to pierce right through Lucario's soul. Next to them was a red-haired young man wearing a knight's garb and wielding a sword. Oddly enough, this man was already wearing a Smash badge.

"Doggie!" yelled the young girl holding the ice cream cone, running up and hugging Lucario's legs, causing him to lower his guard slightly.

"You people must be the newcomers." Lucario said to all of the strangers, but fixing his eyes on the girl still clutching his legs.

"Hey, Lucario. What's going on? And who's your friend?" Popo asked as he and Nana ran up to investigate.

"She's a new Brawler. A little young, though."

"Hey, I resent that, doggie. I may be nine, but I can fight! If I couldn't I wouldn't be here!" the little girl said.

"Fair enough. If you'd all come with me, I will introduce you to Master Hand." Lucario said, breaking the girl's death grip and jumping away before she could lunge again. The he turned and led them toward the mansion.

xxx

"Welcome, all newcomers to the Smash Mansion. I am the owner and creator of this wonderful place, Master Hand. Now, first of all, are there any questions?"

"Where's the rest of your body?" asked the same girl that pestered Lucario outside.

"Good question. Any other questions?" Master Hand asked. "No? Very well, then. I will need all of your names. Make a line, the order doesn't matter."

The group of eleven lined up in a row.

"Starting from the left." Master Hand started, pointing at the girl to the far left.

"My name is Rosalina." said the tall woman, giving a small curtsy.

"Um… Celeste." said the odd girl who tailed the back.

"Amy." called the hedgehog girl.

"Bowser Jr."

"Krystal." said the blue fox

"I'm CAPRICE!" yelled the young girl.

"Louie." said the astronaut man. "These are my Pikmin."

"I am Deme." said the dark-skinned tribal girl.

"Zelda." said the other short blonde girl, to which she attracted confused stares. "What?"

"Do not fret, young lady. This has occurred before. From this day forward you will be referred to as Toon Zelda. Continue."

"Phoebe." said the tall blonde with the piercing eyes, though she was more focused on cleaning her ring than anything else.

The young man with the Smash badge at the end of the line was about to speak, but Master Hand stopped him.

"No need for your introduction, young man. I know who YOU are." he said amusingly. "Your name is Roy, correct? You were with us for the Melee tournament, then disappeared for undisclosed reasons."

"Yes." the man said.

"Well, now that we are finished with introductions, you may have noticed a key among the letter you received that invited you here. That would be your room key. Your room number is on the tag that is attached to the key. You are now free to roam the mansion. Please note that we are about to start a new tournament, so your timing could not be any better."

The newcomers began to scatter. At about the same time, the veterans began to emerge from the different corridors.

Fox, one of the veterans, looked at the newcomers and noticed Krystal among them. Krystal noticed him as well. The two locked eyes for a long moment, then began to walk toward each other.

"Hi." Fox said awkwardly.

"Hi." Krystal responded, equally awkward.

Nearby, Sonic and Amy had a similar moment, though instead of walking toward Amy, Sonic ran away.

"Hey! You get back here, you big blue jerk! How dare you come here for TWO YEARS and not even bother to tell me! You told Tails and Shadow!" Amy yelled, taking the hammer from her back and chasing Sonic down the hall.

Zelda and Toon Zelda stared at each other, cocking their head to the same side at the same time. Zelda raised her hand, and Toon Zelda raised her hand in time with the other Zelda.

"Heh, funny. Mini-me and I did the same thing when we first met." Link said, carrying Toon Link on his shoulders and putting him down next to Toon Zelda.

"Hey, Zelda! I haven't seen you in a while. How are the pirates?"

"Not well. Right now, they're probably bawling their eyes out since I left."

Both Toons chuckled, then began to walk and talk.

Roy had met up with Marth and Ike, and Rosalina 'eeked' with Peach as they hugged each other.

Caprice had walked around, twirling and staring at everything. She stopped when she bumped into something plushy and fell to the floor. She shook her head and looked at who she hit.

"Are you Kirby?" Caprice asked, her eyes widening. The pink puffball in front of her blinked, then smiled, waving at her.

"Yay! I've heard so much about you!" Caprice yelled, hugging Kirby and lifting him into the air.

"Pika, pika?" chirped a squeaky voice.

Caprice turned around and smiled even brighter than before, putting Kirby down and lifting Pikachu into the air.

"You're the most famous Pokémon EVER! Pika, pika, Pikachu!"

From across the hall, Jigglypuff spotted what was going on and ran over to join.

"Who are you?" Caprice asked, raising one eyebrow.

"Jigglypuff! Jigglypuff!" the Balloon Pokémon chimed.

"Nah. Doesn't ring a bell." Caprice said, thinking.

Jigglypuff became upset and swelled up like a balloon. Caprice gasped.

"I know who you are now!"

Jigglypuff deflated and smiled.

"You're a Drifloon, right?"

Jigglypuff frowned again and slapped Caprice twice before stomping off.

"Jeez. What was that all about?" Caprice asked, rubbing her cheeks.

xxx

Deme walked throughout the halls, looking for her room.

"Hello." she heard as she walked. Deme turned her head and saw a blonde girl in a blue bodysuit. "My name is Samus."

"My name is Deme. Are you a powerful competitor in these games?"

"I'm pretty good. Not as good as Meta Knight, though. He's one of the best Brawlers here. Are you a powerful competitor?"

"Back in my tribe, I am the strongest warrior there."

"Strongest female warrior?" Samus asked, attempting to clarify.

Deme scowled. "Do not insult me. I am the strongest warrior, period. Men wish that they could meet my skill level."

"Cool. Girl power." Samus said, extending her fist. Deme just stared at it.

"I am not familiar with your semiotics. Is this a battle challenge?"

"No, no. I wouldn't want to fight you yet. It's a fist bump. A sign of friendship in some cultures."

"And in other cultures?"

"It's a…battle challenge… But rest assured! I'm not challenging you yet!"

"…Okay, then." Deme said, raising her fist and touching hers to Samus's.

"Tell me more about the powerful competitors in this event." she said.

xxx

Celeste stood to one side of the room, thumbing her earrings, which looked like tiny tridents.

Nearby, Lucas was staring at her.

"What's the matter, Lucas? You've got the hots for the shy girl?" Ness teased, putting his hat over his best friend's blonde hair.

"She seems lonely. Should I go talk to her?"

"Why not? It might get her to open up a little."

Ness patted Lucas on the back as he walked up to Celeste.

"Hi. I'm Lucas." he said, tapping Celeste on the shoulder.

"Oh! H-Hi." Celeste stammered, taking her hands off of her earrings and putting them behind her back.

"What's wrong?"

"What do you mean? I'm fine."

"It's just that you're not socializing. I can relate. When I first came here, I could barely say a whole sentence, just say 'Hi.' and nod."

Celeste smiled. "It's just weird being away from home. I miss my sisters."

"I miss my friends at home, too. Ness is my only real friend here. Can we be friends?"

"Sure. But… Is being a friend like being a sibling?"

"Hm? Explain."

"I've never had a FRIEND friend. Just my five sisters and one brother. Is friendship like siblinghood?"

"It's close enough to it. So, do you want to think of me as your little brother?"

Celeste giggled. "I'd like that."

Ness gave Lucas a thumbs-up, then walked up the giant staircase toward the upper corridors.

xxx

Peach walked up to Phoebe, who was admiring herself in a mirror.

"Hello. My name is-"

"Princess Peach of the Mushroom Kingdom. I know you." Phoebe said without looking at Peach. "What do you require of me?"

"Require? I just wanted to see if you would like to be friends."

Phoebe laughed. "I apologize if this hurts your feelings, but the only friend I need is her."

She pointed at the mirror, specifically her own reflection.

Peach looked sad and walked away.

"What's going on, Peach?" Rosalina asked.

"Phoebe's a jerk." Peach said sadly.

"Don't worry about her. You've still got Zelda, Samus, and now me!"

"True, but there's just something about Phoebe that seems familiar. Oh! I know who she is! Don't you recognize her?"

"No."

"That's THE Princess Phoebe Lee, of the Volcanic Monarchy. She's been my idol for SO long! Eek! I just got shot down by THE Phoebe Lee! *gasp* Phoebe said she KNEW ME! EEEEK!"

"Well… I'm…happy for you?" Rosalina said, confused.

"I need a beverage. I'll be right back. Oh my God. THE Phoebe Lee…" Peach continued to murmur as she walked down the hall.

Rosalina looked back at Peach, then at Phoebe, not knowing what to do next.

xxx

Meta Knight walked down the hallway, toward his room. As he turned the corner he jumped backwards in surprise. Mario was laying on the ground in front of him, severely injured, with bruises and marks all over his body.

"Mario! What happened here?" Meta Knight asked, helping the plump plumber to his wobbly feet.

"Oh, my. Someone just-a came out of nowhere and attacked me. I didn't see his face, though." Mario said with a disoriented voice.

"I'll get you to Master Hand. He has to know about this." Meta Knight said, picking up Mario's hat. Under his mask, Meta Knight frowned when he saw that the 'M' on Mario's hat had been crossed out and replaced with a 'T'.

"He has to know about this now." Meta Knight added, helping Mario across the hall.


	2. The Investigation

"No description of the assailant is available, and he left a strange memorandum behind." Meta Knight finished telling Master Hand, showing him Mario's vandalized hat.

"A 'T'? What could this mean? Could it identify our assailant?" Master Hand asked in a series.

"You mean like his first name?"

Master Hand began to murmur to himself. "Toon Link and Toon Zelda are the only ones here whose name begins with 'T', and that isn't even viable. 'Toon' is their title."

"Not for Toon Zelda. I've studied all of the newcomers, and I've discovered that Toon Zelda used to go by the name Tetra, a fierce pirate queen who'd do anything to get a step ahead." Meta Knight said.

"She must be pretty powerful to be able to take Mario down like that."

"Don't flatter Mario. He was taken by surprise. Anybody could've sneaked up behind him and struck. I will go interrogate Toon Zelda. Can you make sure that all surveillance equipment is up and running?"

"Yes I can." Master Hand said as Meta Knight left the office.

xxx

Tails was sitting at his computer in the Simulation Chamber Control Room. Behind him were Deme, Toon Zelda, Snake, and Captain Falcon.

"It's not too late to back out, little lady. You sure you want to go through with this?" Snake said to Deme.

"Are you belittling us? We are honorable warriors. We would never back out of a challenge, right?" Deme said, elbowing Toon Zelda much harder than she intended.

"Uh, yeah. Sure." the animated young woman said, her mind obviously on other things.

"Okay, let's recap. Two-on-two, Deme and TZ versus Snake and CF, 2-Life Stock Battle, on the Super Smash Brothers Battlefield. Did I get it right?" Tails said, taking a long breath.

"Perfect." Snake said.

"Alrighty, then. Go stand on any of the four Brawl Daises while I virtualize you onto the stage."

All four Brawlers stood on the glowing blue raised platforms in one corner of the control room. Strangely enough, that one corner was surrounded by foliage and a strange light shone from the gaping hole directly above.

Tails pressed a few buttons, then hit one big red one. In a big flash, the four Brawlers on the daises vanished.

Just as they did, Meta Knight came into the room.

"Tails, where is Toon Zelda?"

"You just missed her. She virtualized to the SSB Battlefield to start a brawl."

Meta Knight walked up and looked at the computer screen, seeing Deme, Snake, Captain Falcon, and Toon Zelda.

"Why don't you stick around and wait for her to come back?" Tails suggested.

"I was going to do that anyway."

xxx

In the virtual battle zone, Deme had taken a flute from the waistband of her leather skirt. She raised her flute in the air and chanted,

"Fluit! Beri aku mag!"

Glowing in a flash of light, her flute elongated, and the mouthpiece turned into the head of a spear. The butt of the new spear also grew a sharp end.

Deme twirled her spear around her, pointing it at Snake's face, which had a surprised expression.

"Let us brawl, or as they say in my tribe, 'Veg goed!'"

Deme swung the new spear like a bat, striking Snake and sending him flying into Captain Falcon. While they were disoriented on the ground, Toon Zelda threw a small, sky blue ball with an exclamation mark on it. Snake was able to roll out of the way, but Captain Falcon couldn't react in time and was clouted into the ground, unable to move.

Deme lifted her spear into the air

"AIEIEIEIEIEIEIE!" she screeched before bringing her spear down on Falcon's head, sending him flying away and exploding in a blast of light.

"Victory in the name of Terzek!"

"Who?" Toon Zelda asked, running to join Deme as they faced Snake.

"Terzek is my tribe's deity. He protects our forest and guides us in battle. For Terzek, I would do anything and eliminate any threat!"

Captain Falcon reemerged at the top of the battlefield and dropped back to the ground. While Snake and Deme traded equally fierce blows, Toon Zelda continually leaped away from Captain Falcon's lightning-fast punches.

"Falcon PUNCH!" the F-Zero pilot yelled, throwing a punch that burned with fire that took the form of a falcon.

Toon Zelda thought quickly and took a reflective shield from her back, hiding behind it. When Falcon's punch hit the shield, there was a flash of light, then Captain Falcon was blown backwards, striking Deme and Snake and throwing all three of them off of the stage.

She covered her mouth, realizing what she had done.

"Sorry, Deme, I'm SO sorry!" Toon Zelda apologized as Deme dropped down to the ground.

"It's alright. I have an extra life, and only Snake is left." Deme said.

The two fighters heard a click and looked up. Snake had loaded a small missile launcher and fired, blowing Toon Zelda and Deme into the air. Toon Zelda flew into the air and off into the distance, disappearing in a flash, but Deme was able to survive the blast.

When Toon Zelda reappeared, the three remaining fighters noticed that a Smash orb had appeared in the sky. The small Hyrulian princess jumped for it, but Snake jumped higher, bounding off of Toon Zelda's head and beginning to pummel the orb.

"Oh, no you don't!" Deme yelled, throwing her spear. It struck the Smash orb and knocked it away from Snake. Deme jumped up and grabbed her spear from the air, swinging it and breaking the Smash orb.

'Damn! She's a regular Ike!' Snake thought.

"Toon Zelda! You might want to stay near for this!" Deme said, activating her Final Smash. "Witness the power of nature's wrath! Bywoon die mag vir karakter mal!

The spoken-to ran and grabbed onto Deme's arm. The tribal warrior shrunk her spear back into a flute and began to play a lively tune on it. As the tune played, the earth all around the battlefield except for a specific area where Toon Zelda and Deme were standing began to shake violently. Snake was thrown around violently by the earthquake, making it even harder for him to avoid the large stones that began to fall from the sky and the ravager crows that began to streak through the air.

Somehow, Snake was able to land in Deme and Toon Zelda's protection bubble, which only gave him a second of relief, since Toon Zelda used her magic to grab him, then throw him back out. As she did, a rock fell down on him at an angle, causing him to fly into the air and slam into a ravager crow, which carried him off of the stage.

"Winners!" bellowed Master Hand's voice.

xxx

Deme and Toon Zelda were teleported back to the Smash Mansion, where they saw Captain Falcon and Snake sitting nearby rubbing their heads.

"I've got to hand it to you girls. You sure can give a man a headache."

"Maybe next time, you'll think twice about underestimating strong young women." Deme teased, strutting out of the control room. Toon Zelda was about to follow her, but she was stopped by Meta Knight.

"I need to speak with you." he said coldly, grabbing her wrist and escorting her out of the door without even giving her a chance to speak.

"What are you accusing me of?" Toon Zelda asked Meta Knight.

"You know exactly what I'm accusing you of."

"Well… Do you have any proof?"

"I should ask you the same thing. Where were you all of this afternoon?"

"I was hanging out with Link. Toon Link."

"Will he tell me the same thing?"

"Yeah! Just ask him!"

"Hm! I will. Don't go too far away." Meta Knight said, wrapping himself in his cloak and teleporting away in a flash.

xxx

Toon Link was in the gym, swinging his sword at a hessian skin training dummy. He lunged forward to swing again, but instead of hard burlap, his sword struck metal.

Meta Knight had appeared in front of him and blocked his blow.

"I need to ask you a couple of questions about Toon Zelda, like where she was from 11:45 this morning to about 12:34 noon."

"Why? Did Zelda do something wrong?"

"I'll determine that after you give me the facts."

"Well, Zelda was with me most of that time, but she left at about 12:30. She said she had some urgent business."

"I see."

"Is there anything else you need to know?"

"Do you know where she went?"

"Toward the veteran suites and the kitchen."

"That's all I needed to hear." Meta Knight said, throwing his cape over himself and teleporting again.

Toon Link furled his eyebrows, shrugged, then continued his training.

xxx

Toon Zelda stood uncomfortably in the hallway, glancing around guiltily.

"Cretin!" yelled Meta Knight's voice as he reappeared and pressed the girl's shoulder to the wall. "Toon Link told me that you left him at 12:30, four minutes before the deed was done. That would give you plenty of time to commit the act and leave without anyone suspecting you!"

Toon Zelda looked fearful and close to tears.

"Admit it! Admit your crime now and the punishment will be slightly less severe!"

"Alright! I admit I did it! I ate the fried chicken fingers!" Toon Zelda yelled, burrowing her hands in her head and sobbing.

Meta Knight gave a confused look and let her go. "What? You- Chicken- What?"

"It was a guilty pleasure! I've been raised as a vegan since I was a little girl! I couldn't even drink milk or eat cheese, partly because of my lactose intolerance, but mainly because they came from cows, living breathing animals like us. I couldn't even attend cooking classes for more than a couple of days, because they'd have to adjust the entrees to fit vegan needs, like vegan chicken and rice. Do you know what vegan chicken and rice is? RICE! And Link told me about some leftover chicken fingers from the supper they had before the newcomers arrived, and I just couldn't help myself!" Toon Zelda blubbered.

Meta Knight shook his head. "I thought that you were the one who injured Mario."

"Mario got injured?"

"He got attacked at the same time you were guilt-eating. His hat was vandalized. The 'M' was crossed out and replaced with a 'T'."

"T? As in Terzek?"

"Who?"

In today's practice brawl, Deme was talking about her deity named Terzek. I'm trying to remember exactly what she said about it. Oh! She said that he protects her tribe's forest and guides them in battle. She also said that for Terzek, she would do anything and eliminate any threat."

"Then the investigation wasn't a dead end after all. Thank you, Toon Zelda, and I apologize for any… misconceptions." Meta Knight said, bowing before once again throwing his cape over himself and vanishing.

"Weirdo." Toon Zelda murmured, before taking a chicken finger out of a pocket frill in her skirt.

"I hate doing this to you, but you're soooo delicious!" she said, munching on her fried snack.

xxx

Meta Knight knocked on Deme's door, with no answer.

"Ms. Deme? I need to talk to you." Meta Knight demanded, knocking harder on the door.

Meta Knight placed the tip of his sword in the lock.

"Galaxia Light!" he yelled. The blade glowed, then fired a small beam into the lock, melting it. Meta Knight opened the door and was, for the second time in two days, taken completely aback.

Deme's hands and feet were bound to the four posts on her bed. She was blindfolded and gagged with a note sitting on her chest. Meta Knight sliced through Deme's binds, then picked up the note and read it aloud.

"Behind you."

Meta Knight turned around and-

_KLANG!_

A frying pan to the face knocked Meta Knight to the ground, knocked out cold. The holder dropped the frying pan, then grabbed one of Meta Knight's gloves, using it to open the door and close it again, throwing another note onto Meta Knight's face as the assailant left.


	3. Tag, You're It!

Kirby stood with a scared look beside Meta Knight's hospital bed. In a nearby chair, Deme sat with bandages around her wrists and ankles where she was tied up. Kirby tapped Meta Knight a couple of times and he didn't move. Tears began to form in Kirby's eyes, then he realized that Meta Knight was unconscious, meaning that no one could stop Kirby from taking a peek at Meta Knight's true face.

Slowly, Kirby reached up his fingerless hand to take Meta Knight's mask, but just as his hand touched the cold steel-

"Kirby, leave Meta Knight alone! He needs his rest." said Master Hand's voice as he entered the room. "I think Caprice was looking for you. Go play with her."

Kirby nodded, then waddled off.

"Who's going to continue the investigation now that Meta Knight is in a coma? Better question. Who's doing this and why? Do you know anything, Deme?"

"Not much." she said in a slightly slurred voice. "I was in my room, preparing to shower, when I was heard the door close behind me. I didn't close it, so I turned to see what was going on, and that's when it hit me."

"A breakthrough? You know who the assailant is?"

"No. It hit me. The frying pan that knocked me out. I didn't see who did it, sorry to say."

"It is alright." Master Hand said.

"No it is not. I have brought shame to my tribe. Being taken by surprise like that. It's disgraceful."

"It's difficult to hear footsteps in this place anyways. It's not your fault."

Deme sighed, then rested her head on her hand again.

xxx

Phoebe walked through the halls with a blood vessel bursting in her head, because behind her, Princess Peach was gaping wide-eyed at her.

"Do you need something?" Phoebe asked. Peach looked offended.

"Why, I should be asking YOU that, Ms. Lee! You live to be served, and I can serve you! Just tell me what you need and/or want! I'll fly to the moon on paper wings if you wished it."

"Well, in that case, there is something you can do for me."

"Yeah?"

"I'm feeling a bit parched. Can you get me some fresh spring water?"

"Sure!"

"And when I say fresh, I mean fresh from the spring outside."

"But that water's unpurified."

"Then find a place to purify it."

"You got it!"

Peach ran off in the other direction. Phoebe sighed and continued walking. From around a far corner, Caprice was watching Phoebe, without the usual cheerful glimmer in her eye. She jumped when she felt someone tap her on the back.

"Kirby! Am I 'it'?" Caprice asked. Kirby nodded and ran off with Caprice chasing him.

xxx

Master Hand was in his office, observing his surveillance cameras. First, he watched the surveillance video of Meta Knight interrogating Toon Zelda. As Toon Zelda was pouring her heart out to Meta Knight, Caprice walked by with her hands by her sides, instead of running by with her hands in the air with glee.

In another surveillance shot, Roy was walking alongside Caprice, until Caprice turned down another hallway, glancing back at Roy before she went out of camera sight. Roy had his cape somewhat ajar, as if he was trying to hide something that he had strapped to his belt.

Master Hand then looked at the surveillance camera that had been set up in Deme's room. She walked into the bathroom, then turned the water on, walking back out to wait for it to get warm. Master Hand almost had to turn away as Deme began to take off her accessories: her leafy headband, her clip-on bangles, and her tribal jewel necklace.

As Deme reached behind her to untie the straps that held her top together, her door closed without her touching it. Deme began to turn around, and just as she said, a frying pan came from almost nowhere, knocking Deme unconscious. The assailant grabbed Deme and began to tie her to her bed, taking a note out of his pocket and putting it on her stomach. To finish, he blindfolded and gagged her, which confused Master Hand. Deme was already unconscious. Why did he oversell it? The attacker walked into the bathroom, turned off the water, the walked into shadows almost completely out of sight.

A few minutes later, Meta Knight stormed into the room. He cut Deme's bonds and read the note. Meta Knight turned around and just like Deme, was knocked out by a frying pan.

The attacker took one of Meta Knight's gloves and used it to open the door without leaving any fingerprints, then threw a piece of paper onto Meta Knight's head as he left.

"Very disturbing… But… Where's the second note?" Master Hand asked himself.

As he did, Samus entered the room, in her Power Suit.

"Hello, Samus. Why are you geared up? Did you just come from a brawl?"

"No, sir. Crazy Hand has alerted everyone on the serial attacker within the mansion. Everyone is geared and ready."

"Samus, let me ask you something? I have a theory, but why do YOU think the attacker is doing this? He could have easily killed Mario, Deme, or Meta Knight, but instead, he just left."

"Maybe he's taunting us. Daring us to try and find him."

"I had a theory. Or maybe the assailant doesn't have the mental depth to do it."

"That's a good point. But that would also mean that the assailant was forced to commit these deeds."

"Exactly. I need you to go and find somebody. I think I've found our attacker. But here's a list of other fake suspects to line up with him, to give him a sense of safety before we bust him."

Samus took the list from Master Hand and left.

xxx

Peach, Mr. G&W, Roy, Phoebe, Bowser, and Luigi were all lined up in the main room, in front of the giant staircase. Master Hand and Crazy hand floated in front of them.

"Friends, brawlers. I'm sure you have all heard about the serial attacker that has made its way into our ranks. Well, we are sorry to say that we have picked you six out as prime suspects, because of your various connections to the victims."

All of the suspects looked at each other, then back at Master and Crazy Hand.

"Once we identify the culprit out of the six of you, we will hand you over to my brother, Crazy Hand. Do I need to say anymore?" Master Hand asked.

Crazy Hand giggled and fidgeted at the sound of his name, twiddling his fingers.

"We think we know who the suspect is, but we will wait until the end to identify him. Now, let me go straight to the point. I have checked my surveillance cameras. According to them, someone here 'borrowed' a frying pan from the kitchen and used it in the attack. Someone here went to horribly sloppy lengths to hide that frying pan as he walked through the halls. And someone went to careful lengths to conceal his fingerprints when he was leaving, but thought nothing of it when he was entering. Well, we've identified those fingerprints."

Master Hand continued, "We have identified our attacker as Roy!"

Before he even finished the sentence, the Fire Emblem knight bolted past them at full speed, yelling, "Long live Tabuu!"

"After him!" Master Hand said to Crazy Hand. He giggled his ominous, electronic giggle, then began to pursue.

xxx

Samus and Fox were looking around Deme's room for any more clues. She spotted a note on Deme's bed.

"Behind you."

Samus looked behind her, but nothing was there, except for Fox, who shrugged and the dented frying pan. Then Samus noticed the second note lying under the frying pan. She opened it.

"Peek-a-boo. I see you. What could this one mean?"

"I don't know, but whoever wrote it has bad spelling skills. The 'peek-a' in 'peek-a-boo' is misspelled. It spells 'Pika-boo'.

Samus and Fox were silent for several precious seconds, then Samus had a breakthrough.

"Oh, hell no!" she said, running out of Deme's room and heading toward Pikachu's room.

xxx

Caprice continued to chase Kirby through the halls, giggling with glee. As Kirby ran, he passed the Ice Climbers, who jumped to the side.

Caprice smiled and ran up to Popo, jumping and tapping his head.

"Tag! You're it!"

Popo and Nana looked at Caprice, then looked at each other. Popo tapped Nana, then sprinted away.

"You're it, sis!" he yelled.

Nana continued to chase her brother, Caprice, and Kirby, until she slammed into Pikachu.

Thinking quickly, Nana tapped Pikachu's head, then jumped off of him, running.

"Tag, Pikachu! You're it!"

After a few seconds, Nana heard a loud yell behind her.

"Pika! Pika, pika, PIKA!"

"Nope! You'll never catch me- Pikachu?" Nana said looking back and seeing nobody. All of a sudden, Roy jumped from a corner, running as fast as he could past Nana, who was knocked to the ground. He was quickly followed by Crazy Hand who was laughing maniacally at him.

Nana got up and dusted herself off. All of a sudden, Popo and Kirby ran up to Nana.

"What was that all about?"

"I have no idea."

"Well, we lost Caprice. We tried to follow her, but I have no idea where she went."

"I lost Pikachu. He was chasing me, then he yelled something, then he vanished.

"Let's look for him and Caprice. Maybe they found each other."

Nana and the others walked back to the corridor where Pikachu emerged from. She looked to her left and saw Caprice standing at an open door with her eyes wide and scared, one hand covering her mouth. She backed away from the door, shivering.

"Caprice! What happened?" Popo asked. He looked in the door that Caprice was looking through and gasped.

"Oh no! What happened to him?"

Suddenly, Samus and Fox ran in and observed the scene.

"Dammit! We're too late!" Samus screamed. "Wait. Is that my Paralyzer?"

A hole was punched into the ceiling, large enough to fit the handle of Samus's personal stun gun. The trigger was taped, so it would launch one, continuous, electric whip. Tied up by end of that whip, unconscious, bloody, and battered, was Pikachu, who was being repeatedly electrocuted by the whip.

"He's going to die if we don't get him down now!"

Fox blasted the Paralyzer, destroying it and causing Pikachu to fall to the bed.

Samus lifted him in her arms, and only then did she noticed the crude writing behind Pikachu, drawn on the wall with a blood-red marker that read,

"TABUU SCRUUWS YUU! :D"

xxx

Roy continued to run, with Crazy Hand right on his tail. The back entrance was only a few meters away. Suddenly, a blue flash rushed by Roy. As he looked to see who it was, a pink flash slammed into him, knocking him to the ground.

"I'm not done with you, Sonic! You're going to BLEED!" Amy shrieked, running after Sonic again after standing, brushing herself off, and saying 'Pardon me.' to Roy.

Roy stood to run again, but Crazy Hand caught him and took him outside, flying over the mansion and to the front courtyard, dropping him in front of Master Hand.

"Before we throw you into the Underworld, do you mind explaining why you would betray us like this?" Master Hand said.

Roy stood. "Tabuu kidnapped and tortured me after the events of the Melee tournament. He told me that he'd promise my freedom and that I'd get safely back to my world if I help one of his associates that would be at the Smash Mansion."

"Tell us who this 'associate' is, and we might just consider diminishing your punishment."

"I-It was C-"

Before Roy could finish, something in his pocket exploded. A ball of dark purple matter began to surround Roy as he screamed. Master and Crazy Hand backed away to avoid being sucked into the Subspace void. After some time, the void began to recede until nothing was there, not even Roy.

"This is very troubling indeed. This deviant villain is leaving a trail of bread crumbs, and every time we think we've found the source, he's left another crumbled loaf, ready and waiting for us." Master Hand said angrily.

"Master Hand! Master Hand!" yelled two small voices.

The giant hand turned and saw Popo and Nana running toward him.

"Something's wrong! Pikachu's dying!"

"What? What happened?"

"We don't know! Please! Help him!" Nana said, crying.

"I fear that this has only just begun." Master Hand said sadly, quickly following the Ice Climbers.


	4. Tabuu Scruuws Yuu

Popo, Nana, Kirby, and Master Hand stood beside Pikachu's hospital bed, which was set up next to Meta Knight, who still had not awoken. The mouse Pokémon has an oxygen mask over his face, with a tube leading up to an intricate machine.

"Could Roy have done this?" Master Hand asked.

"Probably. I saw him running out of Pikachu's corridor right after he disappeared." Nana said.

"If that's the case, then he couldn't have done it. Roy was being interrogated by us. We would have been chasing him by the time Pikachu was attacked. Who was with Pikachu?"

"Me, Popo, Kirby, and- Hey, where's Caprice?"

"She ran off crying after we found Pikachu almost dead in his room."

"Where was she before Pikachu vanished?"

"Playing tag with us."

"Okay, an alibi has been established, but I still need to talk to Caprice. She's not in trouble, but she may know something."

"Good luck. Caprice hasn't talked to anybody, which is weird."

"She doesn't trust anyone." Nana said. "She's like us. She's wondering what kind of monster would do that to poor Pikachu."

"Maybe I can get a couple of words out of her." Master Hand said, floating out of the room.

xxx

Tails sat with melancholy in the control room of the Brawl simulator. He double-locked the door behind him, just in case he was a potential target.

As he typed, his heart jumped when he heard a slow knock at the door.

He grabbed the closest thing he could find, a remote control, and slowly walked toward the door. Unlocking it, he raised the remote and quickly threw the door open. But he released his breath when he saw that it was only Caprice, who had a look of even deeper melancholy than Tails.

"Hi, Caprice. What do you need?"

"Can I play on your computer, Miley?" she asked glumly.

"Miles." Tails corrected. "You can just call me 'Tails', though. Come on in."

Tails opened the door completely and let Caprice in.

"Do you want to play with the Stage Builder?"

"Not really. Do you have Pac-Man?"

"Sure. Take a seat."

Caprice sat in Tails's chair and he pulled up the Pac-Man game from the internet. As Caprice played, Master Hand entered.

"Caprice, can I talk to you?" he asked.

"Is it about Pikachu?"

"Unfortunately, yes."

"Then, no. I don't want to talk about it."

"Caprice, I know you're upset about what happened to him, but if you know anything at all about what happened, I need you to tell me."

"MH, can I talk to her?" Tails asked.

"Sure. Tell me if you have any luck." Master Hand said, floating out of the room.

"Caprice? Are you sure there's nothing you want to talk about? You can trust me. I wouldn't hurt a fly."

"Why would someone do that to him, Tails? Pikachu never did anything wrong."

"Whoever's doing this is targeting specific people. The strong ones. Roy was one of them, but he was being manipulated. But now we know that there's two to every tale. Some other coward is ruining this place. And we have to stop him before he inevitably kills someone, or you."

A tear dropped from Caprice's eye and she paused her game.

"Tails, why do people hurt other people?"

"If anybody knew that, there wouldn't be anymore crime or murder, but there still is, so it's still an enigma."

"Do they do it because they think the person they're hurting is evil?"

"Um… That could be a strong possibility."

"Or do they do it because they can, and nobody can stop them?"

"Err… That's… another possibility. Why bring this up so suddenly?"

"I'm a victim. I, myself am the result of pain and suffering."

"What? What do you mean by that? What are you even talking about?"

Caprice began to cry wildly and threw her head into Tails's chest.

"I know who's going to get hurt next!"

Tails's eyes widened and his jaw dropped. "Who is it?"

Caprice leaned up and whispered something into Tails's ear.

"Oh no. Stay here! I've got to go alert Master Hand!"

Tails ran out of the room. Caprice wiped her eyes with her sleeve and walked back to the computer glumly, resuming her Pac-Man game.

xxx

"This lousy bastard is getting more and more hostile. He's escalating. He recruits Roy to beat Mario around, then he moves up to giving Deme a concussion, then giving Meta Knight a coma. And then there were two. This second louse almost kills Pikachu. Do we have any idea who the assailant is?" Samus asked.

"Roy was about to tell us, but he kind of blew up." Master Hand said sadly. "However, he started saying the big boss's name. It begins with a 'C'."

Samus thought for a moment. "There's Caprice."

"No way. She was one of Pikachu's friends, plus she was genuinely shocked by what had happened to him. Plus, she's nine. Roy was, like, fifteen."

"All that's left is Celeste and Crazy Hand."

"Celeste? The shy girl?"

"It makes perfect sense. Celeste may be pleading for attention, and when we ignore and it seems that it had no lasting effect, she steps up the nature of her attacks."

"We should question her about this."

All of a sudden, Tails rushed into the room, panting.

"Celeste is the next target!"

"Well, we can screw that theory." Master Hand said. "Explain yourself, Tails."

"Caprice told me that the culprit of these acts told her who would be getting hurt to scare her. She said that he warned her about Pikachu, but she didn't believe him."

"That must've been why Caprice was so shocked when it actually happened."

"She must also feel responsible for what happened, because she knew and didn't tell him about it."

"Celeste is a target, and Caprice is a liaison between them now."

"That means that-"

"Roy was about to feed us false information."

"What about the timed Subspace Grenade?"

"Maybe he was on his way to strike Celeste with it, but our interrogations stopped him. It's all falling together. He would've framed Celeste, so his job would've been done, regardless of a failure on his part."

"Hello! We have a crisis here!" Tails said.

"Sorry. Did Caprice say who the culprit was?"

"No. I guess she's scared that he would kill her. We have to warn Celeste."

"Where are we going to put her? The attackers knows this mansion."

Tails snapped his fingers.

"We could put her in the simulator. And we can probably coax Caprice into telling us who the attacker is."

Tails, Master Hand, and Samus ran out of the office.

xxx

Caprice was still sitting at the computer playing Pac-Man, when the Ice Climbers, Celeste, Tails, and Samus entered.

"Come on, Celeste. Practice a little free-for-Brawl."

"Free-for-Brawl?"

"One-on-one-on-one-on-one." Tails said. "Free-for-Brawl is shorter and catchier. All tournament battles are free-for-Brawl, by the way. So, how about you vs. the Climbers vs. Caprice vs. Samus. What do you say?"

"Sure. Maybe a brawl will get my mind off of things." Caprice said, glancing sadly at Celeste.

"I'm down with it." Samus said.

"Cool! Let's do it!" the Ice Climbers said.

"Alright, I guess." Celeste agreed.

"So it's unanimous. Step up onto any of the four Brawl Daises, just like standard.

The four brawlers stepped up onto the raised platforms.

Tails pressed in some commands, then pressed the big red start button. As he did, a spark jumped from the machine, which made Tails flinch. The screen in front of Tails began to flicker, and instead of the SSB Battlefield, a strange, dark stage had appeared on the screen.

"What the-" Tails gasped. Floating around the stage were chunks of rock and debris.

"Is this a custom stage?" Tails asked himself, checked the specs on the strange arena. The strange stage was created only hours before the Brawlers entered. Tails read the name of the stage aloud.

"Tabuu Scruuws Yuu…"

xxx

The four Brawlers virtualized onto the stage, looking around confusedly at their surroundings.

"What is this place?" Samus asked.

"I'm scared." Caprice said, running to Samus.

All four turned their heads to the sky when they heard a low, mechanical growl.

A strange mechanical beast was standing on a floating piece of rock. It's appendages, robotic hands and feet, were not connected with the torso, just floating in the air. So was its head, which looked like a knight's head; a faceplate completely took up all of his face, and the top of his head ended in a point, so it looked like a raindrop.

The monster jumped down to the ground, raising its floating arms into the air. Samus and the Ice Climbers geared for battle, but Caprice still clung to Samus, and Celeste was scared stiff.

"Come on, you guys! We have a monster to kill!"

Caprice steeling her resolve and let go of Samus, raising her hand in the air. Samus thought she was summoning a weapon, but instead, an ice cream cone appeared in her hand.

"What the hell? Why do you have an ice cream cone?" Samus asked.

Caprice didn't answer. She only clutched the cone tighter. Suddenly, it began to glow, then grow, until the cone was almost as large as Caprice herself. The ice cream ball grew larger and projected spines, turning the cone into a byzantine mace.

The monster pulled its floating fist back, then launched it toward the four brawlers, who leaped out of the way. Unbeknownst to them, the fist stopped and changed direction, flying back toward them. The fist opened its hand, scooping up Nana and carrying her back to the monster.

"Nana! Give her back, you big, fat, metal jerk!" Popo yelled, running toward the beast.

It extended its other hand in front of Popo, hand signing to 'stop or he'll crush the girl'.

Popo didn't move, staring fearfully at his sister. Suddenly, a laser blast flew through the air and struck the beast's hand, causing Nana to fall to the ground. She ran toward behind Popo, who smacked the monster's other hand away.

Samus, who blasted the laser, ran in front of the Ice Climbers and jumped up, kicking the mechanical thing in the chest. Its torso flew from its place, causing the arms and head to fall to the ground. Samus lifted her arms to bring them down on the creature's head, but all of a sudden, the limbs and head flew backward with the torso. Suddenly, all of the body parts stopped and began to fly at Samus. The hard metal debris hit Samus hard, ripping her Power Suit apart. When the torso struck her, Samus flew into the air and off-screen in a powerful explosion.

In Tails's control room, Samus emerged from the teleporter, her Power Suit in ruins. She stumbled a few inches before falling to the ground.

xxx

Around the mansion and in the suites, brawlers watched in confusion as a Brawl suddenly appeared on the TV screens positioned around he mansion. Lucas gasped when he saw Celeste there, and a strange monster.

"Something's wrong!" he said, running down the hall toward the simulator.

He burst through the door, seeing Tails on the floor, trying to resuscitate Samus.

"Tails, what's happening?"

"Something bad! Something very, very bad!" the two-tailed fox panicked. Lucas stared in horror at the screen.

xxx

Back in the simulator, the Ice Climbers, Caprice, and Celeste backed away as the monster stomped toward them.

"Tabuu Scruuws Yuu…" the monster said in a mechanical tone.

Caprice had a wild, scared look in her eye and she started running toward the beast, but Celeste stopped her.

"Don't do this, Caprice. You're going to get hurt. Worse, you could get killed. Tails! If you can hear me, pull Caprice out of here!"

"I'm trying! This place is corrupted! Until I can figure this out, the only way to PULL out is to get KNOCKED out."

"Then all we can do is fight, and you can't stop me!" Caprice said.

Celeste took off her earrings. They began to glow, then grew into full-size tridents.

Finding new courage within her, Celeste brandished her tridents and raised them toward the beast.

"Let's brawl!"

Caprice, Celeste, and the Ice Climbers leaped into battle, attacking the great monster. Caprice used her powerful ice cream cone mace to bash the creature's arms and keep them at bay. The Ice Climbers smashed the creature's feet to keep it from moving. Celeste jumped up and tried to attack the beast's head, but only ended up getting at it's torso. The monster made a metallic roar and swung its torso around, throwing Caprice and the Climbers off. Celeste noticed a Smash Ball in the air and squinted.

"How am I going to get up there with that thing looming over and making it impossible to jump over it?"

"Jump on us! Jump on us!" the Ice Climbers called. Nana was standing on Popo's shoulders.

Celeste ran and jumped first off of Popo's head, then off of the monster's head. She jumped away from its swinging claws not a moment too soon. Celeste took her tridents and smashed the glowing rainbow orb in between them. She activated her Final Smash, raising the two thin tri-edged poles into the air. Electricity crackled between them, and suddenly, a heavy torrent washed over the arena.

Suddenly, Celeste's legs stiffened and came together, growing scales and eventually fusing into one, elegant tail.

"Wow! She's a mermaid!" Caprice said, amazedly. She suddenly gasped and clutched her throat, then found that oddly enough, she and the Climbers could breathe under the artificial ocean.

Celeste dove fast toward the mechanical monster, crossing her tridents into an X.

"Hya! Undersea Sepulcher!" Celeste yelled, swinging both tridents at the monster. It flew backwards, landing hard in front of a deep hole. Celeste waved her hands through the water and it suddenly receded. Caprice shook the water out of her hair, and the Climbers shook their hammers clean of any water that seeped into them.

Celeste's tail separated back into two legs. She began to pant.

"I think it's over." Celeste panted.

Suddenly, the monster's two hands shot up and flew toward Celeste, grabbing her and keeping a death grip. Then the hands pulled Celeste toward the rest of the body, which had reformed itself. The creature turned toward the giant gaping hole.

xxx

Tails's jaw dropped when he saw the hole on the screen.

"Guys! You have to free Celeste now! That hole is a cesspool of corrupt data. If he throws her in there, she'll disappear forever!"

Those last words stuck in Lucas's mind. 'She'll disappear forever!'

xxx

The creature had sparks jumping from its torso where Celeste struck, but it was still operational. It lifted Celeste in the air to throw her into the hole.

"Stop it! Don't you dare!" Caprice screamed, jumping into the air and swinging her mace, knocking the monster's head clear off of its body. As if it was shocked, the beast felt around on the top of its torso, where its head originally was. Caprice jumped after the head, which had rolled away from the hole.

Caprice swung down at the head multiple times, but it kept jumping away. The monster's head jumped up and hit Caprice in her own head, making her fall down.

The dismembered head leaped, bounded off of Caprice's head, and back onto its body, twisting itself around as if to screw itself back on.

"NO! Stop it right now!" Caprice screeched. The monster traded hands, grabbing Celeste with one hand and using the other to launch forward, solidly punching Caprice and sending her flying off of the stage.

Caprice flew out of the teleporter and landed hard on the ground. Ignoring the pain, she stood and looked in horror at the screen.

The monster's fist flew into the air and windmilled backwards, landing on Popo and smashing him, causing him to fly upwards and disappear. Nana vanished with him.

Popo appeared in the teleported, laying face-down on the ground. Nana shook him, trying to wake him up.

"Come on, Popo! Get up, please!"

Tails ran over to him and felt his chest. "He's not breathing! Someone get him to the medical bay immediately!"

Lucas lifted Popo off of the ground with his PK powers and ran with him out of the room.

In the simulator, Celeste stared in absolute terror as the monster holding her suddenly mumbled the same thing that it said earlier.

"T-Ta-Tabuu Scruuws Y-Y-Yuu…"

"NO! DON'T DO IT!" Caprice screamed at the screen.

Tails turned away from the screen as the monster stepped over the hole, tumbling down the hole with Celeste screaming. Suddenly, there was a large explosion.

Tails desperately looked at the teleporter, hoping that Celeste would miraculously have survived. Five seconds turned into ten, then twenty. An entire minute had passed, and Celeste still had not appeared.

"She's…gone."

"Where did she go? Bring her back from wherever she went!" Caprice panicked.

"She didn't go anywhere. She's just…gone. That corrupt data destroyed her and that monster. She's gone…and I can't do anything to bring her-"

"Yes you can! Bring her back NOW! She wasn't supposed to die!"

"I know, Caprice. I know." Tails said with tears in his eyes. "But I'm not a god. I can't perform miracles like that."

"No! You don't understand! SHE WASN'T SUPPOSED TO DIE!"

Caprice was about to drown in her tears as she threw herself into Tails's chest for the second time today.

"SHE WASN'T SUPPOSED TO DIE! SHE WASN'T, TAILS! SHE WASN'T!"

Tails didn't keep his tears from flowing. He and Caprice just hugged each other and cried.


	5. The Result of Pain and Suffering

Night had fallen over the Smash Mansion, and everyone was standing outside, holding a candlelight vigil for Celeste. Nana was standing alone, for Popo was in intensive care, suffering from a collapsed lung. Samus had sever broken ribs and a shattered femur. Caprice suffered from a minor contusion on her liver and a wrenched cardiac muscle. Not surprisingly, Caprice wasn't at the vigil.

xxx

Caprice sat with Tails in the control room. The grief and melancholy that emanated between the two of them almost flooded the room.

In Caprice's mind the images leading up to Celeste's tragic death as she shakily sang a nursery rhyme.

"_Humpty Dumpty sat on a wall."_

Images of that monster holding Celeste over the hole flashed suddenly through her head.

"_Humpty Dumpty had a great fall__."_

Another mental image of the monster falling into the hole with Celeste flew through Caprice's mind.

"_All *sniff* the king's horses and all the king's men, *sniff* j-just couldn't put Humpty t-together again."_

Caprice remembered when Tails told her that he couldn't recover Celeste from the corrupted data.

Tails listened sadly as Caprice sang with a sobby, shaky voice.

"Caprice, I know that this is really upsetting to you, but I need to know who the attacker is. Nobody else is going to die if we have anything to do with it."

"You won't l-let me leave until I t-tell you, will you?" Caprice asked. Tails shook his head.

"B-But, Miles… I mean, Tails. I-If I tell you, y-you're going to die."

"Caprice, I promise that I won't die. Once we know who the attacker is, nobody will have to die anymore."

"Cross your heart?"

"Cross my heart. Now, just tell me who he is."

"She."

"Hm?"

"The attacker. It's a she."

"Okay. Tell me who SHE is, then. And who her next target is, if you know."

Caprice leaned forward, placed one hand behind her back, and whispered something into Tails's ear.

Tails frowned. "What?"

Caprice squeezed her eyes shut and thrust her hidden hand forward, stabbing an icicle knife through Tails's chest.

Tails gasped, then clutched his bleeding body, falling to the ground with a gag.

"Told you." Caprice said ominously, opening the door, twisting the lock, then closing it again as she exited, locking Tails into the room.

Inside, Tails lost blood fast as he half-crawled, half-dragged himself to the control panel, where he pressed a white button marked 'PANIC'.

xxx

Outside, everyone turned their heads to the mansion when they heard the blaring four-ring alarm.

"One siren for upcoming tourney battles. Two sirens for a fire drill. Three sirens for an actual fire. Four sirens for distress! Tails must've pressed the panic button!" Amy said, remembering the bell schedule that was given to her and the other newcomers.

"Let's go, then!" Sonic said, running into the mansion with Amy hot on his heels.

When Sonic reached the simulator room, he tried to open the door, but quickly discovered that it was locked.

"Move over!" Amy said, rubbing her hands together and taking her hammer from her back, swinging and knocking the steel door off of its hinges. Inside, Tails was laying face-up, wheezing brokenly. Sonic squinted and Amy clasped a hand over her mouth when she saw the icicle sticking out of Tails's chest. Sonic was about to take it out, but Amy stopped him.

"Taking that thing out of him now could rupture his heart and kill him instantly. Stay here with him while I go get Master Hand and some medical supplies.

"Tails, buddy! Did the killer do this?"

"C-C-Caprice…"

"Where is she? Did the killer take her?"

"C-C-Caprice…IS…the killer."

A pit of dread and realization dropped hard into Sonic's stomach. "Hang tight, amigo. Help is on its way."

"She's…urgh…going to kill…"

Sonic looked at Tails with a serious look.

"What? Who?"

"Phoebe…"

xxx

"*sigh* Who stole my mirror?" Phoebe asked herself as she walked through the empty halls, looking around. She stopped and furled her eyebrows when she heard a girl's voice singing.

"Ring around the rosie, pocket full of posies…"

"Who's there?" Phoebe asked.

"Ashes, ashes…"

Phoebe glanced around, squinting.

"They all fall down…"

Suddenly, an icicle flew through the air, just barely missing Phoebe's nose. Phoebe turned and saw Caprice walking toward her, singing the same thing.

"Ring around the rosie, pocket full of posies, ashes, ashes, they all fall down."

"Caprice. You're the killer. You've been doing all of this crap around here."

"Don't flatter me. I'm doing this for YOUR sake."

"What?"

"Phoebe!"

Phoebe turned her head toward the people running toward her. Big mistake. Caprice ran toward Phoebe as well and conjured her ice cream cone mace.

"Duck!" Nana yelled. Phoebe ducked her head just in time to avoid it being gruesomely crushed.

"Caprice! What are you doing?" Master Hand asked.

"Getting my revenge! For days, I've been trying to kill Phoebe, but people keep getting in my way!"

"Explain, from the beginning. Why are you trying to kill Phoebe?"

"Because nine years ago, when her Volcanic Monarchy overthrew my home, the Snowy Kingdom, her father captured and raped my mother!"

"You're holding a grudge against something that happened before you were born?" Nana asked. "And that still doesn't explain all the people you hurt."

"Tabuu promised me justice if I worked for him. He also hired Roy. Roy was supposed to distract all of you while I wait for my chance. I was so careful, planning every lie and considering every possible scenario."

Caprice flashed back to the first day she arrived. She and Roy were standing against the wall, watching Mario. Caprice almost had to look away as Roy ambushed Mario and beat him up badly.

Then Caprice flashed to when she and Roy were walking beside each other, hours later.

"Meta Knight is a liability. He'll be the first one to investigate, so take him out when he comes." she said to Roy, handing him a note that said 'Behind you.' Roy nodded, then Caprice went down a different hall, glancing back at Roy as she did.

"But things went wrong after we caught Roy, didn't it?" Master Hand said, pulling Caprice out of memory lane.

"Today was my day. The day that I would kill Phoebe and that'd be the end of it, but Pikachu saw me with my club. I panicked and jumped him, beating him senseless. I didn't want to, but he compromised my mission. And afterwards, I was genuinely surprised that I was capable of doing that to one of my friends. That was no ruse."

"And Celeste? I suppose that was a panic attack, as well?" Master Hand said.

A tear dropped from Caprice's eye. "Celeste's death was a tragic mistake. Hours before I went to go find Phoebe the first time, I created that corrupted stage on the Stage Builder, just in case I needed a backup plan. It was supposed to automatically surface when the computer scanned Phoebe's DNA pattern."

"The why did it surface early?"

"Because it scanned MY DNA pattern."

"Why would it scan yours?"

"Because I'm Phoebe's half-sister."

Phoebe gasped. "What?"

"You heard me. When your father raped my mom, it got her pregnant, and she didn't have it in her to get an abortion."

Everyone's eyes saddened as the pieces fell together.

"That's right. I'M their love child. I'M the mistake that never should've happened. The result of the pain and suffering of others. Every time my mom looked at me, she saw the terror she went through nine years ago. Whenever someone looks at Phoebe, they see a pretty little girl, and not a tyrant's daughter. And I'm SICK OF IT! I can't kill Phoebe silently, now that you all know, so I'll just kill EVERYTHING!"

Caprice ran down the hall.

"Stop! Caprice, stop!" Master Hand called floating after her. The other Brawlers followed.

Caprice ran into the control room, where she gulped when she saw Tails's blood on the floor. She shook her head and jumped to the controls, punching in several commands. After hitting the big teleport button, she leaped into the glowing teleporter, then disappeared.

"Where'd she go?" Nana asked.

"Look there! She's in that custom stage that she made!"

"Who's going to pull her out with Tails gone?"

"Who said that I'm gone?" wheezed a weak voice at the door. Everyone turned and saw Tails with a large bandage wrapped around his chest that was soaked red with blood. Sticking out of the bandage was the fateful icicle. Behind him was Mario, Meta Knight, who had woken from his coma, and Pikachu, covered in bandages.

"Are you in any condition to be here, Tails, along with the rest of you?" Master Hand asked with a concerned voice.

"Who else is going to help stop Caprice?" Tails said, sitting at the computer, being careful not to disturb the icicle.

"What about…that?" Amy asked, pointing at his wound.

"Once it melts, I should be fine. I'll have 1% more water in my body, but that should level out the next time I go to the bathroom."

Tails observed the stage that Caprice had teleported to and gasped, almost having a heart attack on the spot.

"What's wrong?" Master Hand asked.

"These readings! The connections! I can't believe she's trying to do this!"

"What is it?"

"Caprice is attempting to use her custom stage to siphon power from the mansion!"

"What's wrong with that?"

"She's made connections to everybody who used that teleporter, and then made connections to anybody connected to that person, and so on, and so on!"

"What does that mean?"

"If she fully siphons all of our connections, we're going to disappear. Just like Celeste. And we're not coming back! Caprice has even made strong connections to our worlds. If she sucks it all up, it'll all be gone. Hyrule, Dreamland, Mobius, the Mushroom Kingdom, and every other world and everybody in them will vanish forever!"

"How do we stop her!"

"A group of Brawlers are going to have to go in and… and destroy her. It's the only way to stop her from destroying every world."

"I'll go." Phoebe said. "I feel obligated. Caprice is doing this because of me, so I have to set things straight."

"Well, you can't go alone. I will accompany her." Meta Knight said.

"So will I!" Mario said.

"Pika, pika!" Pikachu chirped in agreement.

"Alright, guys, but be warned. If Caprice knocks you out, she'll absorb your data, so if it looks bleak, self-destruct. It'll injure you a little, but it's the safest way." Tails explained.

The four Brawlers nodded, then stepped into the teleporter one-by-one.

* * *

A/N: I've got to give kudos to Ultra-Tech 777, who followed this little mystery step-by step and kept on guessing with the utmost accuracy. He even guessed who the culprit really was, despite all the clues pointing away from Caprice. It got somewhat confusing at the end, but I hope that Caprice's explanation cleared a lot of things up. Ultra-Tech.

Now the story has turned from 'who done it', to 'what's going to happen'. Next chapter's the last, and the final confrontation unfolds! ;D


	6. Super Smash Brothers Legends

Mario, Meta Knight, Pikachu, and Phoebe looked around at the stage that they had entered. It was the same dark and dense stage that Caprice and the others saw.

All of the Brawlers jumped when they heard strong electricity crackling. They looked to the sky and saw Caprice, raising her mace to the sky and taking in powerful energy from all around her.

Mario frowned when he 'crackled' like a virtual person.

"We're-a beginning to vanish." he said.

"Then let's make this short and sweet." Phoebe said, taking off her ruby ring. It glowed, then grew until it became a large ring lined with sharp, pointed rubies.

"Ruby Razor Frisbee, meet Caprice. Caprice, meet your fate!" Phoebe said, twirling around and throwing her weapon up into the air.

Caprice noticed and deflected the Frisbee with her mace. She then jumped down from her position and the electricity stopped. Phoebe tried to talk to Caprice after catching her Frisbee.

"If you stop now, Caprice, we won't have to destroy you. I'm sorry for what my father did, and if I could take responsibility, I would, but that has nothing to do with me, so-"

"How else am I going to get justice?" Caprice spat.

"It's unfair, I know, but you aren't being reasonable."

"Mistakes are never reasonable, are they?"

"You're not a mistake, Caprice."

"Alright then. Look me in the eye and tell me that I should have been born. Tell me that my mother's rape was my 'lucky day'. Tell me that I should accept you as my sister or accept your father as my own. And if you can't tell me that, I want NOTHING to do with you!"

Caprice slammed her mace on the ground and a large sheet of ice began to rapidly creep toward the four brawlers.

Phoebe kneeled and waved her hands, sending her own wave of fire across the ground to meet Caprice's attack.

"Alright, then. Let's brawl!" Phoebe yelled.

"Not to alarm anybody, but we're starting to become transparent in the control room. Finish her, quickly!" said Tails's voice in the air.

"Pi…ka…CHU!" Pikachu called, launching a Thunderbolt attack. Caprice absorbed that attack with her mace.

"Pika? Pi…ka…CHU!" Pikachu yelled again, but the result was the same. Pikachu looked like he was getting tired.

"He's exhausted after only two Thunderbolts? That's not supposed to happen." Tails said.

Meta Knight, Mario, and Phoebe ran forward to strike. Mario threw fireball after fireball, but against the odds, the mace literally absorbed those attacks.

"It's obvious that ranged attacks won't work, so let's get physical!" Meta Knight said, trying to strike Caprice with his sword. Caprice deflected and parried Meta Knight's blows.

"Urgh. I'm slowing down." Meta Knight growled. Caprice struck him with the mace and sent him flying backwards into Phoebe. After that hit, Meta Knight was almost unable to pick up his sword. "Ugn… I'm so…tired."

"It's the mace!" Phoebe realized. "She used it to start absorbing the power of all of the worlds, so maybe she's using it to absorb our power, too. Don't let her hit you with the mace."

"You're only half-right. It's not only when I hit you. Every second, you're losing your energy and it's being sucked into my mace. The closer you are, the more energy I suck."

Caprice said.

"So, how are we going to win?" Phoebe asked with a frustrated tone as Meta Knight slowly lifted his sword again. Mario and Pikachu ran up to join them.

"That's just it. You CAN'T win!" Caprice said, running up and clubbing Phoebe hard in the stomach.

Se flew backwards and made the other three Brawlers tumble as well.

"That hurt, but it didn't drain any energy out of me." Phoebe said to herself. She gasped in realization.

"You programmed it so it wouldn't suck the energy out of your DNA pattern, didn't you?"

Caprice stared silently.

"And since we share the same DNA, it won't affect me."

Phoebe formed a clod of magma in her hand and threw it at the ground under Caprice, making her sink into the resulting tar pool. She then used one of the sharp ruby razors on her giant ring to cut her arm.

"Guys, you need my DNA to keep from being affected, so take some of my blood and put it on your person." Phoebe said.

Meta Knight smeared a trail of blood on his sword, and he began to regain his strength.

Mario wiped two trails under his eyes, like battle markings.

Pikachu put a bloody pawprint on his forehead.

Once everyone had Phoebe's blood on them, they geared for battle again.

Caprice smashed the ground with her mace and jumped free of her tar trap. She gasped and jumped away as Meta Knight sprinted forward at a very high speed with his sword swinging. He managed to slit Caprice's wrist, which made her drop her mace.

"Pikachu! Mario!" Meta Knight called.

"Pi…ka…" Pikachu started.

Mario charged and launched a big fireball from his hand.

"CHU!" Pikachu yelled, launching a Thunderbolt at the fireball. The bouncing ball of flames stopped, then turned blue, burning with fire, but also crackling with electricity at the same time, and when it took off again, instead of bouncing, it fired like a cannon and exploded into Caprice's stomach, burning and electrocuting her at the same time.

Caprice flew into the air and landed at the mouth of the corrupt hole where Celeste disappeared.

"This isn't over yet! I've only just begun to brawl!" Caprice yelled at them, noticing a Smash orb in the air. She jumped up and shattered the ball in one swing of her mace. While she was in the air, she activated her Final Smash and screamed into the air.

With an echoed voice, Caprice yelled, "Watch this! True Form Unleashed!"

Caprice's arms separated from her body, then shrunk until they were only her hands. Her hands turned blue and grown to massive size. The same thing happened to her feet and head.

From the control room, Tails gasped. Caprice was transforming into the same monster that killed Celeste.

"Can this get any worse?" Phoebe asked herself.

The monstrous form of Caprice noticed her mace flying in the air. She grabbed it, and it grew to a massive size, about half the height of the creature she had become. The spikes on the mace grew larger and longer, and an icy mist escaped from the cracks that were forming in it.

"That was rhetorical!" Phoebe screamed at the sky.

"This battle is over!" Caprice screamed in an ominous mechanical voice. She struck the ground with her giant mace and caused a huge cloud of icy air to cover the arena, freezing Mario, Meta Knight, Pikachu, and Phoebe solid.

"No! Come on, guys! Break free!" Tails rooted.

Caprice laughed and raised her mace to the sky. More energy than ever before came flying into the mace, causing the data structure of the stage they were on to crackle, just like Mario did.

Outside, the others were becoming more and more transparent. Even the mansion was starting to become see-thru. Tails was yelling as loud as he could, but it came out as a whisper.

"Break free! Break free! Come on, guys!"

On the stage, Phoebe was able to squint from within her icy prison, suddenly, heat began to pour from Phoebe's body and she jumped free from the ice.

"You're not done yet, Caprice! I'm still alive, and since we have the same DNA, I'm not going anywhere!"

Phoebe threw her Ruby Razor Frisbee at Caprice's head, knocking it right off of her body. The energy stopped pouring into the mace, and not a moment too soon. The structure of the stage had completely diminished. The background was now TV snow, and the stage had become monochrome and grey.

Caprice felt around for her head. While she was doing that, Phoebe noticed a Smash Orb in the air above Caprice. Right when Caprice found her head and put it back on, Phoebe jumped and bounded off of the head, knocking it to the ground again.

Phoebe battered the Smash Orb until it shattered.

"Heathen! Bow before me!" she yelled, activating her Final Smash.

The ground began to shake and the air became very hot. A ring of hot energy began to form around Phoebe as she charged…something.

The ice behind her began to melt, and the three other Brawlers fell down and smacked into Phoebe.

Phoebe gasped as a giant ball of light formed around her and the three others, then exploded.

When the smoke cleared, Phoebe groaned and shook her head. She furled her eyebrows when she felt something soft on her head, like a hat.

Phoebe looked completely different. She had blank, yellow eyes and a sword, like Meta Knight, a red hat and bushy eyebrows like Mario, and red pouches on her cheeks, along with a yellow, jagged tail, like Pikachu.

"What happened to me? Tails! Can you hear me?"

Phoebe listened and only heard low whispering.

"I think you absorbed their energy." was the tiny voice that came out.

"What? I didn't mean to do that! How do I…unabsorb them?"

"Absorption doesn't work both ways. I'll see what I can do, but keep fighting in the meantime. Think of this as your Final Smash transformation."

Phoebe sighed, then jumped back as a wisp of electricity escaped her mouth.

"Hey, I think I have their powers!"

Caprice, meanwhile, was still looking for her head. When she finally found it, she placed it on the space above her torso, then turned back around to face Phoebe.

"I hope this works. Pi…ka…CHU!"

Phoebe tensed herself and her jagged tail stood straight up and launched a bolt of blue burning thunder into the air. Caprice sprung down on her feet and jumped away before the burning thunder could strike her. From the air, she launched both fists at Phoebe.

Combining Pikachu and Meta Knight's speed, Phoebe virtually warped forward, dodging the flying ice fists, then, slamming both feet into the ground.

"I hope this works. Pika, pika, pika, pika, pika, pika, pika, PIKA!"

As she repeated the same onomatopoeia more rapidly and loudly, a cloud of burning thunder formed around her.

"Nice! Alright, let's go! Volt Tackle!"

Phoebe took off straight into the air, turning herself into a rocket. She even stuck her sword above her head to go from a rocket to a javelin, and Caprice was unable to move while in the air.

Phoebe shot straight through the monstrous Caprice's chest, causing the rest of her body to shatter and rain down in the form of water.

Phoebe flew down to the ground, panting. "That Volt Tackle takes a lot out of you."

The rain fell only on one spot and as it did, it began to rise and form the regular Caprice's body. Caprice's water form then froze over and regained her color.

"Are you ready to give up yet?" Phoebe asked.

"Are you kidding? You just gave me the best idea ever!" Caprice said with an evil grin.

She raised her mace into the air.

"No!" Phoebe yelled, but instead of sucking energy, Caprice launched a blast of energy into the sky, which formed a swirling wormhole.

Caprice blew a cloud of ice, which shaped itself into a hand, which flew up into the wormhole.

In the control room, Tails gasped as the teleporter fired up. Suddenly, a hand popped out of the teleporter.

"Now, where are you?" Caprice said, making the hand float around and touch the faces in the frightened crowd. The hand stopped when it felt something round, soft, and plushy underneath it.

"Gotcha! Caprice said as she grabbed Kirby and dragged him kicking and screaming back into the teleporter.

"Kirby! Save him!" Nana said, grabbing Kirby's foot and pulling. Many others joined in, but the power of the icy hand was too strong and Kirby was pulled in regardless.

Kirby fell onto the stage, where Caprice struck him with her mace.

Both Caprice and Kirby began to glow, then exploded. When the smoke cleared, Caprice had turned into a plushy, chibi version of herself.

"Kirby! You killed Kirby!" Phoebe screamed.

"Wrong. I just absorbed his energy. It's not like he fell into corrupted data. He's right in here." Caprice said, patting her stomach.

"And now that I have Kirby," Caprice started, raising her head and opening her mouth, wider than she ever had before. She began to inhale deeply into the wormhole she created.

In the control room, Tails yelled as the teleporter became a vacuum, beginning to suck everyone into it. Slowly, the crowd of Brawlers began to fall into the stage, and into Caprice's mouth. Tails was able to resist the vacuum by holding onto his chair.

"Oh no! What are you doing?" Phoebe yelled again as the crowd of people began to fall into Caprice's mouth.

Once the last person fell in, Caprice closed her mouth and swallowed. She began to glow very brightly, so bright that Phoebe had to shield her eyes.

Suddenly, the light around Caprice blew up and blasted Phoebe backwards.

Phoebe stood and shook her head to clear the floating black spots in her vision. When they finally disappeared, Phoebe saw Caprice, and her jaw immediately dropped.

Caprice had become a monstrous amalgamation of all of the Brawlers that she absorbed. She had become much taller and larger. She also had four arms. Two were large, lanky, and hairy, like Donkey Kong. One was jet-black and animated, like Mr. G&W, and the other one was mechanical, like R.O.B. One the back of all of her hands were metal spikes, the same that Lucario had.

Her ears were pointed like Zelda and Toon Zelda. She wore Fox's scope on her right eye. She wore Luigi's hat, but Bowser's horns were piercing through it. Her hair had changed to match Peach's, and her teeth had become as sharp as Wolf's. Her eyes became big and bowl-shaped, much like Jigglypuff's, paired with Falco's eyeliner paint. and she was wearing Rosalina's Luna earrings.

Ganondorf's golden pendant had found itself on Caprice's forehead. Around her neck was Bowser Jr.'s fang scarf, and on her head was a large astronaut helmet with two beacons. Olimar's red beacon, and Louie's blue one.

She had Pit's angel wings on her back and three tails. One was blue and furry, with two rings around it, a trait of Krystal. The second was Yoshi's green dinosaur tail, and the last was Diddy Kong's chimp tail.

She wore Sonic's red running shoes, but on the bottom were cleat spikes, like Nana wore. She had gained a fair amount of King Dedede's girth and had Captain Falcon's shoulder plate.

"Caprice, what have you done to yourself?" Phoebe asked in shock.

"I've made myself BETTER than you!" Caprice yelled in an echoed voice, not dissimilar from a Final Smash. She ran forward and tried to punch Phoebe, but she suddenly sprouted Meta Knight's cape wings from her back and took off. Caprice did the same thing with Pit's angel wings and stuck one Donkey Kong arm into the air. Her hand twisted, then flipped up, revealing Snake's missile launcher. She fired several missiles from her arm that screamed toward Phoebe.

Phoebe unsheathed her sword and used the flat end to batter the missiles away. She landed on the ground and pointed her sword at Caprice.

"Ha! I scoff at your ONE sword!" Caprice laughed, unsheathing FOUR swords from her waist. She had Link and Toon Link's Master Sword, Marth's saber, and Ike's Double-Handed Blade. Not surprisingly, Caprice was able to hold Ike's giant blade with only one hand.

"And if THAT'S not enough for you," Caprice started, closing her eyes. She used Ness and Lucas's psychic powers to make Amy's Pika Pika Hammer, King Dedede's mallet, and the Ice Climber's twin hammers levitate around her.

"I'm not done yet!"

All of a sudden, Deme's spear appeared among the floating weapons, along with Diddy's Peanut Popguns. All in all, Phoebe's one weapon was matched with Caprice's eleven more powerful weapons, including her mace.

Phoebe found it almost impossible to deflect every single weapon. Whenever she deflected a sword strike, a hammer bashed her on the head. When she blocked a hammer, the Popguns fired a stinging peanut into her arm, and when she parried a peanut, she was cut with a sword.

"Just give up! You won't win! You can't win!"

Phoebe dropped to one knee, bloody and tired.

"And now I'll seal my victory!" Caprice said, opening her gaping maw and sucking Phoebe in.

"No!" Tails yelled.

Caprice tried to swallow, but she found that she couldn't. She tried her hardest to swallow Phoebe, but surprisingly, it was physically impossible. Strangely enough, just having Phoebe in her mouth made her sick to her stomach and she spit her out.

"Why can't I eat you?"

"Because you're not eating. Your trying to absorb my energy, and our similar energies are preventing you from doing that." Phoebe said, still tired.

"Fine, then. I'll just kill you. It makes no difference to me."

Caprice raised her four swords to bring them down and cut Phoebe into fours, but Phoebe gasped in realization and jumped into Caprice's mouth again.

"Hey! Oomph! What're you doing?" Caprice said with a muffled voice. Phoebe reached down Caprice's throat and into her stomach. She felt around the slimy trap until she felt what she was looking for, grabbed it, and pulled it out with her.

Caprice burped, wiped her mouth, then looked at what Phoebe pulled out of her stomach.

"Kirby? You pulled Kirby out? I don't need him any- Umph! HURGH!" Caprice groaned, clutching her bubbling stomach.

"Yes you do! Kirby was what you needed the most. The only reason you were able to take on all of the Brawler's powers is because of HIS ability to store it. Without him, your body can't keep up with all of that power."

"What…about…you?" Caprice groaned.

"Having three Brawlers inside of me is putting a strain on me as well. You have FORTY-TWO different superpowers bottled up. That's a bomb that's just WAITING to blow up!"

"Noooo…. I…can't…take it!" Caprice moaned, beginning to inflate. Phoebe backed up as Caprice's entire body began to churn.

"NOOOO!" Caprice screamed, before popping like an over-inflated balloon. All of the Brawlers that she absorbed popped out with her, and a huge wave of the energy that Caprice absorbed burst forth. The stage regained its background and the plain monochrome stage turned back to is original composition.

In the control room, Tails stopped fading and became completely tangible again.

Phoebe let out a deep sigh and dropped to the ground, falling fast asleep.

"Don't worry, guys. I'm gonna pull you all back." Tails said, typing in a few commands.

Suddenly, all of the Brawlers began to warp back to the control room one-by-one.

Phoebe warped back last, and when she appeared, Mario was on her head, sound asleep as well. Meta Knight was asleep as well, holding the hilt of his sword with Phoebe. Pikachu was sleeping comfortably on Phoebe's rear, and the sly smile on his face said that he had no intentions of moving anytime soon.

"Whew!" Tails said, leaning back in his chair. "It's finally over, and this friggin' icicle finally melted. Oop! 'Scuse me! Gotta hit the bathroom!" Tails said, running out of the room.

xxx

"I, Master Hand must sincerely thank you all for being able to come. The forty-six of you have come far in your training, and I believe that you all are quite prepared for this. It is a shame, however, that two competitors that had potential, Caprice Kohi and Celeste Atlantica, are not here to join us in this wondrous occasion. Let us fondly remember them as we continue on. Now, without further ado, it is my grand pleasure to formally initiate the fourth Super Smash Brothers tournament. Welcome, competitors, and spectators, to Super Smash Brothers Legends!"

The large crowd that was sitting in the stadium roared with excitement, and colorful confetti rained down on the forty-six Brawlers that were waving elatedly to the crowd. On the large screen above, the initials 'SSBL' twirled around, with the 'L' adorned with gold.

"Now, as the universal saying goes," Master Hand started.

"LET'S BRAWL!" screamed the Brawlers, the crowd, and Master Hand all at the same time, except for one person. One man in the crowd who had an ominous feel about him. His eyes glowed golden and his outfit was very dark and futuristic. Sitting beside him was Roy.

"Caprice has failed, Master Tabuu. What is our 'Plan B'?"

"Oh, don't worry about that, Roy." Tabuu said, rapidly switching forms between Mario, Sonic, Snake, then back to his disguised form. "We'll pay back those Brawlers with interest. But for now, let them Brawl on."

"Brawl on." Roy repeated, glancing back at the ecstatic crowd and the forty-six Brawlers on the ground.

* * *

A/N: That's the end! A little bit later, I'll be making a sequel to this, titled 'Super Smash Bros. Legends'. It's an epic tournament, where anybody could win! Stay tuned for more! ;D


End file.
